I made a bard archer for a one shot a while ago. His name is Archibald the Archerbard.

Youve really opened my eyes to how powerful. BARDS can be

A 3-5 level Hexblade dip can really amp up the Valor Bard Archer power if you are going to high enough level. It would need at least 3 levels to pick up Pact of the Blade and Improved Pact Weapon so you can use a ranged Pact weapon, up to 5 levels to pick up Eldritch Smite. That way there's no real need to boost your Dexterity above 14, so you can focus entirely on Charisma.

I played a Valor Spellbow once, and later on the DM made the unfortunate mistake of giving me an Oathbow. So not only was I making 4 shots per round with Swift Quiver, but the Oathbow was making those shots absolute melt 'that one guy in particular'. Me and the Fighter completely washed most boss encounters.

Are you making an archer variant of every class? Seeing Barbarian and then Bard makes it look like you're going in class order. If you are, I can't wait for you to get to the Warlock Archer, as that's my personal favorite. Utilizing Eldritch Blast to be reflavored as Eldritch Arrows for my pact weapon.

Valor Bard is also a good option for pulling off some really potent spell combos using Find Greater Steed. Of course, many people already know about the Tenser's Transformation + Find Greater Steed combo, but there's another that I've never seen anyone talk about. That being Draconic Transformation + Find Greater Steed. Because your steed gains the benefits of spells you cast with a range of Self, your steed would gain the benefits of Draconic Transformation, which most importantly includes a *bonus action* breath weapon that does 6d8 force damage in a 60-foot cone. This combo allows you to effectively double the damage of Draconic Transformation, allowing both you and your steed to unleash a combined 12d8 force damage each round you maintain concentration, and only at the cost of your bonus action (the spell also lets you use the breath weapon the same round you cast it), meaning you still have your action to do something else, and your steed can still use its attack action. My favorite steed option for this combo is the option added by Fizban's, the Dragonnel.

Really liked this character! I built a level 14 Eladrin Valor Bard/ 6 Arcane Archer for a little one shot my friends ran. He was super fun to play, and tanked/helped the table tank a LOT of damage! (Plus with swift quiver + warcaster he wasn’t so bad himself)

This was my first ever character. An assassin backstory that used his deception, magical powers, actor feat, misty step, dimension door, disguise self, and a great dex. Means I forgot Intel on missions a lot, and generally waltzed into situations where he'd have to come up with a random disguise and reason why he was where he was. Made me feel like jack Sparrow getting out of trouble, but a great marksman if needed. *get swift quiver for sure when possible. Lore bards are just as good if you don't mind lower DPS, and more rp😅

I've been looking at a Bowsmith Artficer for a while a Halfling Battlesmith Artificer using either a musket or crossbow while riding my steel defender

I really appreciated this episode, I started on system 3.5 and since the bard was such a powerhouse there especially paired with some of the prestige classes like Lyric Thaumaturg particularly, I've had a hard time wrapping my head around the 5E bard. I still feel like they are still vastly diminished since system 3.5 but I do see where this build would be a very optimal powerful build compared to other 5E bards. I recently finished building a spell bow character for a player in my upcoming campaign and we went the route of the Artificer Artillerist. Use human or a variant human to get a bonus feet to ramp up your bow damage then you don't need to use your spells for damage you can use them for buffing , de-buffing, and other fight winning options, then you've got your attack action with your bow and your bonus action with your eldritch cannons. At higher levels once you get a second Eldridge Cannon you can set up a veritable barrage of attacks that range every round. My suggestion was to take enough levels of Runeknight Fighter to get extra attack (that also gets you action surge, second wind, heavy armor, etc.) with extra attack you're Encounter would look like so: start combat with a powerful area or multi target spell that requires concentration or doesn't it won't matter. Then continue with two arrow attacks as your action, and two Eldridge cannon attacks as your bonus action every round at higher levels.

First, love your short and sweet character concepts and builds. Second, I have a character challenge for you. How would you build a blind character? Melee, spell caster, auras? Blind fighting style, observant feat, and/or a familiar? Party support or damage dealers?

Actually, I think Swords Bard does a better job at being a Bardcher than a Valor Bard primarily because the Blade Flourishes are a way to up the damage of your attacks, AND make you more defensive. And yes, you CAN use Blade Flourishes with ranged weapons. You'll be limited to shortbows for the build but being able to have versatility in how you damage your foes is nice. High AC, small crowd control, guaranteed forced movement, it can honestly do it all. Now, if you think Battle Magic from Valor makes it a superior option, then more power to you.

My favorite was wood elf valor bard hex blade warlock eldritch smite at range is real nice

As a bonus, you could make your bow into a harp and use it for spellcasting.

I think Sorcerer, specifically Mage of Prismari, could be a worthwhile place to start for a number of different Bards, because you get Constitution save proficiency for concentration, much better damage output from cantrips, and the ability to dash and disengage as a combined bonus action a PB number of times per long rest for only a single level dip.

I kind of prefer sword bard archers. Something nice about using blade flourishes with a ranged weapon.

Hey, I have been trying to build a spell bow character who isn’t a hexblade or Eldrich knight for a long time and this is perfect.

I've done a hexblade archer with a dip into whispers bard (for the extra damage) and the nova bursts on that girl have been *nuts*

Bardcher..... goblin.... Goblin Charbelcher? ..... wait Goblin Bardcher!!...... eather I need more coffee or more sleep. Lmao ☕️ I do like the flavor of this build Sage.

One level fighter for archery fighting style, martial weapons, armor skill and prof in con saves. Six levels of swords bard for extra attack and a bunch of spell slots. Three levels of hexblade warlock for attacking with charisma, devils sight, eldritch mind and the darkness spell. Variant human of custom lineage to start with a feat. Pick up crossbow expert and sharpshooter as early as possible. Arm yourself with a hand crossbow. It is pretty goot at early levels but become insane at level 10. Three hand crossbow attacks per round, you can reliably use the -5 to hit +10 damage as you should be able to keep up darkness on you at all times, so you always attack at advantage. Except for this you have quite a lot of spell slots available to fall back on for any unforseen things.

I didnt get the chance to play it yet but i theorycrafted a bard acher build before, but it was custom lineage to get fey touched with hunters mark and then, after 12 bard, get the rest fighter battlemaster Also get holy weapon with the secrets

awww, you called us family.

Ok, I must admit my own ignorance. I always underlooked the valor bard in part because I misunderstood the swift quiver. I would do hexblade+ swords bard archer but I never realized that you didn't need to use the attack action to use swift quiver. An optimal caster with bonus action archery is stronger than the swords bard at many levels

So, now I want to play an Aarakocra Valor bard named Alan-a-Dale. Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day.

I highly advise the 1st level dip into hexblade, so using a hand crossbow with your charisma.

I consider High Elvin Magic essential to archery.

Thanks for the build, Valor Bard is indeed a very powerful subclass. Two questions you touched upon but did not answer: would you personally - take Sharpshooter and/or - pick Swift Quiver? 🙂

Funny I'm playing a swords bard archer. It's not perfectly optimal but I'm having fun with it..... Also I'm a bard and have full spellcasting so I'm not underpowered The theory crafted version was a human who's starting feat was fighting style archery. But the actual play version is a half elf because my stat rolls were 13, 13, 11, 8, 7, and 3, DM buffed my stats by giving me 4 stat points of my choice and bumping my 3 to a 6, so I ended up with 16 in both dex and Cha, (he did this because we used the honor system for stat rolls and everyone else rolled at least two 18s, so DM said he was pretty sure I was the only one who was honest about my stat rolls.... We switched to rolling in the VTT after that)

I like the illustration, where did you find it ?

I made a valor bard Minotaur who was an archer when they got close thunderwave and used my horn in close range

I want to make a bardcher ranger, 3 hunter X lore bard. Get swift qiuver as magical secrets and get 3 attacks as a bonus action

How would you optimize the Hexbow Sorcerer? I know I can Smite for days by making more lock slots between rests, but what spells would you take? And what sorc sub? The more I think on it, maybe fighter instead of Sor.. Oh man.

Is it worth going ranger2 after bard3? +2 to ranged hit, expertise absorb elements or zephyr strike to get us out of melee if we get rushed. I've never played a high level Bard so idk how much we want to reach level 3 spells

So what spell would you recommend for magical secrets?

Lol, I think I prefer a gun bard multiclass. Giff 3 fighter (battle master for superiority dice or arcane archer if the DM allows it. Finally Arcane Sniper (manhwa) here I come) 10 lvls whisper bard and I'm not sure if I want my extra attack to come from Battle smith (in case of stingy DMs) or Gloomstalker, but I'm also tempted to take 3 lvls of assassin. And I haven't even talked about the wonders of eldritch smite. So many choices to be made. 🤔🤔🤔

Challenge: The Utilitarian Skaldbow Weakness: Lackluster Bow DPR until 14th level Race: Half-Elf Class(es): 1 Hexblade, 19 Eloquence Board Misc: Greater Invisibility, Tenser's Transformation, Wish, other spells optional Rotation: Tenser's Transformation (A) -> Attacks Calculation: 1d6+5+2d12+10*3 (assuming 20 CHA, 73% chance to hit with EA w/ archery fighting style) Average Damage: 89.75 (not including hexblade, which is way above 100+ DPR), potentially double damage with simulacrum Stats: 8/13(+1)/15(+1)/10/10/15(+2) Feats: Elven Accuracy (4 Bard, 6 levels), Crossbow Expert (8 Bard, 10 levels), Sharpshooter (12 Bard, 14 Levels), CHA (16 Bard, 18 levels), Optional Feat: Warcaster, Fighting Style (Archery), Piercer (19 Bard, 20 levels) This build stresses D&D Daily's Bardcher philosophy: the ultimate utility with optional ranged DPS. Note how likely one can precast Tenser's Transformation because of the 10-minute duration. Your feats might prioritize bowmanship but your subclass prioritizes utility without compromising damage output or survivability (thanks to Tenser's Transformation and Hexblade). Have your utility-DPS cake and eat it too

New build just dropped, and yeah valor bard is the best BarD with that bow.

To add to the idea... While I'd never advocate dumping CHA on a Bard, they've got enough spells that don't depend on their casting stat, so that even if you make DEX your primary stat, you're golden. 1st lvl- Silvery Barbs and a ritual or two. 2nd lvl- Silence, Invisibility, Aid 3rd lvl- Dispel Magic, Plant Growth, Mass Healing Word 4th lvl- Dimension Door, Greater Invis, Polymorph

Sword bards also get medium armor and most of their special attack buffs don't require melee weapons, could be an interesting alternative if you wanna double down on atchery

In a campaign I just finished I made a archer with 6 level in hexblade warlock and 4 levels into college of eloquence bard. Literally couldn’t get below a 22 on persuasion checks lol.

I always thought handxbow with shield and xpert feat is way to go, but this is not bad at all.

You *can* make a perfectly viable bard archer, there are plenty spells and magical secrets to support that. Be that majestic Greater Steed, Guardian of Nature, DEX-based, Elven Accuracy + Sharpshooter valor/swords bard if that's what you want to be. You can still Polymorph your friends and Plant Growth to support the party with spells - archer bard is hella fun. However, Valor bard isn't this secret hidden gem everyone ignores. It genuinely isn't that good. Medium armour is great, but bard gets light armor. If you have 16 starting DEX like you suggested, that's +1 AC. If you're using a longbow, you don't get to use the +2 from a shield. There's the moderately armoured feat which comes with +1 DEX attached. Not a bad pick on vHuman/CL as an alternative if you still wanna grab war caster at 4 to maintain your Faerie Fires and Suggestions. You can also get this through multiclassing... Which is obvious foreshadowing, but bear with me for a little longer. Martial weapons are nice at your first few levels, but by the time you're level 5 you're going to see a big drop in performance. Does your campaign make it to level 11? Forget it. Trying to both be a martial and a spellcaster has big scaling issues. You need to invest in stuff like archery and sharpshooter/crossbow expert or get some really nice magic bow from your DM to do more damage than a warlock spamming EB. As a caster, on the other hand, you need to protect your concentration. Not to mention you have MADness to deal with because you either fall behind with your spell DCs and inspiration pool, or with your longbow attacks. In a world where multiclassing and moderately armoured exist, is a subpar extra attack really worth sacrificing amazing features other colleges offer? So the main reason to pick Valor college as your source for armour proficiency over the others is Combat Inspiration. Adding inspiration to AC is great on your front line. However, it eats their reaction, so that's no Shield spell, no Uncanny Dodge, no attack of opportunity, etcetera. There's stiff competition for that reaction. The elephant in the room, however, is the hexblade dip, which gets you the same proficiencies earlier (when they're most relevant) *and* the Shield spell. Get to bard 3/warlock 2 to pick up Agonising Blast just in time for cantrip scaling so you can spam Eldritch Blast while making good use of that shield proficiency. Grab Eldritch Mind to evade the war caster tax or Repelling Blast for extra control if you've already paid it. Now you can pick any other college you like and be on your merry way. It does delay your spell progression, which hurts, but if you want a decent ranged attack in addition to the usual bard shenanigans (and your campaign allows for multiclassing) this is the better option.

With the right race a sword bard seems to be the better choice.

Yeeeees!

90% of battles don't spend a lot of time at a lot of range, which is why I generally don't like archers, but if you do a good job optimizing them they can still be excellent. This does look like a good bard but I wouldn't say it's good optimization because you are average at everything. When it comes to archers, I enjoy a trick I came up with to allow an artificer to make a +1 anti-matter rifle with infinite ammo by utilizing an anti-magic sphere. This can get me an average damage per turn of over 50 at level 2.

If you want to invest in a 3 level Warlock dip, taking Hexblade with Improved Pact Weapon would allow you to use your Longbow with your Charisma.

Valor Bardcher is cool but what about Swords Bardcher? Their Blade Flourish works with a bow. You would have to start out as an elf to get the proficiency but elves are cool. Or you could be a VHuman and start off with Crossbow Expert, making it quite a fun build at level 1. Actually, just Crossbow Expert at level 1 is a fun build with almost any class as long as you can get proficiency with crossbows

Wait, I've been watching these "optimization" builds and while I can see how being an Archer makes the Bard better, I don't see how being a BARD makes you a better ARCHER. None of the Bard spells give you a bonus to hit, extra damage, or anything that boosts your ranged attacks. And yet, I continually see the BARDcher ranked as a one of the best spellbow builds. Why is that? Your bow is going to interfere with your spellcasting at most levels. I can see how it's great at lower levels where most primary spellcasters are still using cantrips, but at tier 2 and up, it's going to be a dilemma which to choose. Then there is the ASIs. Even without considering the archer feats, do you go Dex for better archery or do you go Cha for better spellcasting and inspirations?

college of swords never actually specifies that you need a sword to use its abilities, if you want to dump support and go for a more solo oriented build, this is SIGNIFICANTLY better than valor, better movement options, better ac bonuses, better damage. It’s literally significantly more optimized. Plus it’s WAYY more compatible and convenient with multi-class synergies. tbh everyone looks at valor as the “better swords bard” but honestly, with the survivability it nets you and the min-max options that arise. it’s pretty damn crazy.

I'm confused, how is the medium armor a +5 to your AC? This is a dex heavy build right? Isn't the high dex where most of the AC improvement would be coming from?

How many levels in Valor Bard and how many levels in Ranger with what subclass?

Dude can you please. What is a cheater Kia or a ladderinth?

I play a Eloquence bard with 1 level of Hexblade.

I've always been unimpressed by valor bard, this remains unchanged. I think that Swords or even Whispers Bard make a better Bardcher. Swords does everything valor does here [except the alternative use of sharing inspiration for AC or damage] and gets interesting maneuvers options. They don't get longbow proficiency, but playing elf or taking 1 level of a martial could get that, otherwise it's 1 less damage to use a shortbow. Whispers can choose to power strike with their Psychic whispers inspiration. It only has one attack, so this would go well with playing as a goblin or as a rogue (2+) for bonus action hide/disengage and extra damage [throw in elven accuracy if an elf rogue]. Valor bard's attacks are just kind of unimpactful. They don't hit hard or do anything special, and scale worse the further they progress. Valor's vanilla unenhanced attack action is a bad solution to the problem of having unsatisfying combat actions when not casting spells. And magical secrets come so late that you can't even improve them using those in most games.

Sad that the Arcane Archer is a weaker arcane archer

Valor bard is great, but your bow damage is never going to be very good if you don't take feats for it. I don't think you should take feats for it, I think your spellcasting is your most important feature, so you take feats that support that. Since your archery is never going to be very good, I would recomend carrying a shield. For your weapon hand, a couple of thrown weapons, a whip (they have reach), a magical instrument when you can get it. Sure you can have a longbow on you, but I would not make it my go to weapon, you won't have the archery fighting style or sharpshooter feat (remember your allies provide cover for the enemies when you don't have sharpshooter, so you are not as free to move around as you would think if you actually want to hit something.)

I've never been satisfied with College of Valor no matter how I tried to build them. It feels like College of Swords is everything College of Valor wished it were. It feels like the ability for College of Valor to be able to provide Bardic to add to an ally's AC suggests they should be more of a "battlefield commander" type, but the Bard spell list just doesn't support that playstyle as well as other class/subclass choices.

Definetly not even close to being the strongest (or even a strong) bard build.